The first Android based device that I can think of with a front facing Qwerty keyboard was the Acer beTouch E130. Whilst it was never the fastest of devices (and only recently it was adorned with an Android 2.1 update) the keyboard was great and it made for a useful social networking platform.

An unknown Thai based company are likely to follow a similar venture with the launch of its own – social networking eccentric – Spriing Smile model. The phone features a unique tri-corder looking design, with a front facing Qwerty keyboard (lots of additional functions per key), Android 2.1 as standard, a 3MP camera (no news on a flash), 512MB of ROM, 256MB of RAM, microSD card slot (expandable to 16GB), 3G HSDPA, a 2.6-inch QVGA display, and a 528MHz Qualcomm MSM7225 processor.

The spec as you can tell is pretty low, but it is faster than the aforementioned Acer, which had a ST Ericsson PNX6715, 416 MHz processor. According to Engadget the handset was designed in Sweden and manufactured by Huawei (the same company who brought us the S7) and will initially be on sale in Thailand and Australia (via its Boost Mobile).